Chapter 45: Main Event(2)

BOOM!

The prince of Lindermann’s summoned giant, struck by Perizet ‘s blow, was crushed under immense pressure.

“Ugh…”

Crack!

The giant, which had been slowly crumpling, finally reached its limit. 

Unable to maintain its magical form, it shattered into pieces.

“!”

The prince groaned in pain, clutching his hand, the source of his magic, as he dropped to one knee. 

The backlash from the destruction of his summoned creature had caused the magic to recoil, inflicting internal injuries.

“Curse you…!”

Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. 

Above him, Perizet , bathed in a golden aura, looked down from the air. 

The prince could feel a power radiating from her, far more intense than before.

‘A hidden class…?’

The beastkin, who had been unable to put up a proper fight, now wielded power of an entirely different magnitude. 

The prince, who had once escaped a life-threatening situation somewhere in the central continent of Rudera by awakening his Epic class, was certain. 

His opponent had awakened to a new class.

Grit…

The prince ground his teeth hard. 

A beastkin, awakening to a hidden class? 

The filthiest of creatures?

Kwoooo…

Magic roared violently around the prince. 

Slowly, he rose to his feet. 

Would he lose to a mere beastkin, not even the Republic or the First Princess?

Crack!

The bones in his fingers crushed under the force of his grip. 

This was unacceptable. 

He couldn’t allow it. 

The beastkin, a race cursed by the gods and despised to the core, the very ones who had harmed his mother.

“I refuse to kneel before such a filthy creature!”

KWA-A-A-A-A!

A massive surge of magic erupted from the prince. 

The high-density magic surrounded him in a pillar of yellow light.

‘If I can rid this world of filth and sin… if I can create a world for the noble like her…’

“Manifest, demon of destruction and purification!”

A hexagram magic circle formed behind the prince. 

‘I shall sell my soul to the demon.’

RUMBLE…

“What, what’s happening?!”

“An earthquake?”

All the magic within the arena began to converge on the prince, causing the entire stadium to shake violently.

THUD!

Two giant hands bound by chains shot out from the two corners of the hexagram. 

In the void, two red lights flickered.

Kwoooo…

Finally, from the topmost corner of the hexagram, a demon’s twisted face, resembling an evil god, emerged. 

This was the moment when the demon of purification, a figure only known in ancient myths of the continent’s creation, was born from the prince’s magic.

‘…Is it this powerful?’

Albus watched in awe at the demon summoned by the prince. 

The prince’s class, an Epic Magic Summoner, was one of the special classes he had created. 

It had the ability to create anything based on the user’s magic, but each entity had a clear limit to the amount of magic it could contain.

‘He split the entity into five parts—arms, legs, and torso—and summoned them simultaneously.’

By dividing the torso, the prince managed to create a demon with a magical capacity beyond the usual limits. 

It was a clever trick, utilizing the ability to summon multiple creatures at once.

‘But to maintain and control all these summoned entities would require an immense amount of mental power…’

No matter how good the idea was, realizing it was a nearly impossible feat. 

Albus couldn’t even begin to fathom how much effort and research the prince must have invested to achieve this.

“I will become a demon, if it means I can purify this world!”

Hellfire gathered in the demon’s massive hands. 

The uppermost spell, Hellfire, ignited over the demon’s body.

“Is that not the ‘Sealed Demon’ of legend…?”

“To control a demon…”

All the spectators froze at the sight of the demon, a creature that should only exist in myth.

BOOM!

The demon, engulfed in hellfire, clashed with the goddess of sunlight.

“Aaargh!”

“Is this even safe?!”

The collision of their powers unleashed massive shockwaves and light that engulfed the arena. 

The explosion was powerful enough to obliterate the surrounding area, but the indestructible barrier surrounding the stadium kept the spectators safe.

Kwoooo…

Amidst the clash of power, the demon’s skin began to crack, leaking the magic that formed its body.

“…”

Though the prince’s demon wielded unimaginable power, it was still no match for Perizet, who could temporarily harness the power of a god for sixty seconds.

Crack!

Cracks spread across the demon’s body, with light seeping through. 

The prince gritted his teeth, struggling to maintain the demon’s form. 

The destruction of the demon would mean defeat.

Meanwhile, Perizet  desperately attacked the demon, knowing she had little time left.

-Remaining time in Divine Descent: 9 seconds.

She, too, was running out of time. 

As the battle raged on, with the demon’s flames and divine light intertwining, there came a moment.

Crack!

The prince’s mana flow, which had been sustaining the demon’s recovery, was severed.

“…OH SH…”

Kwooooom!

The giant form of the demon began to collapse. 

The embodiment of his resolve, the culmination of all his dreams, his last resort was crumbling. 

The final weapon he had prepared to defeat the First Princess and claim the throne.

The beastkin, who shone brilliantly like the golden sunlight, was closing in, stepping over the crumbling remains of the demon. 

The embodiment of impurity, a cursed race that should have been erased from the continent… 

Yet, somehow, the prince saw a nobility in her that surpassed even the saints.

He stared up at Perizet in a daze. 

The true light of purification.

The divine light of the sun, forged by the sacred, was about to engulf the prince when—

-Remaining time in Divine Descent: 0 seconds.

-Divine Descent has been deactivated.

The sunlight vanished without a trace.

Rustle…

And with the disappearance of the light, Perizet’s body crumbled to dust. 

Her body, which had been forcibly maintained by divine power, had collapsed under the strain of wielding a power beyond its limits.

Ding!

-Victory! You will be transferred to the winner’s waiting room shortly.

5…

4…

“……?”

The prince stood there, bewildered, staring at the system window before him. 

No, it couldn’t be.

Defeat.

The final move he had crafted with everything he had was shattered, leaving nothing but emptiness in its wake. 

He had been utterly defeated by the very being he considered the epitome of filth—a beastman. 

The woman he had deemed a cursed creature turned out to be even more…

“…noble than a saint.”

As the divine energy radiated from Perizit at close range, the prince found himself captivated by this new woman.

Flash!

The prince, now enveloped in a blue light, vanished from the arena.

Ding!

• The state of divine possession has been lifted.

• As the time limit expired, Perizit’s body, sustained by divine possession, completely collapsed.

Flash!

In a normal scenario, she would have been erased entirely. 

However, due to the game system of Rudera, she reappeared outside the arena, in the respawn area, with her body restored.

‘…So, I lost,’ she thought.

When she had been possessed, the overwhelming excitement filling her mind had blinded her to reality. 

The power given to her had been immense, far beyond her own capabilities.

‘To receive the Lord’s grace…and yet fail to wield it properly.’

She had been unworthy of the divine blessing.

Perizit felt her consciousness fading.

“Albus…”

She wanted to share the news of victory with him. 

She wanted to repay him for his incantation of success.

But Perizit lost her balance and began to fall. 

Just before she hit the ground—

Thump!

Albus caught her in his arms.

“…Albus?”

Though she couldn’t see, Perizit instinctively called out his name.

“Albus, I’m sorry. You cheered for me, yet I failed.”

“Perizit…”

Albus’s face was grim.

“It’s my fault… my incompetence. Though I received the Lord’s grace, I was unworthy of it. I should have fought with my own power…”

“No, Perizit,” Albus said through clenched teeth. 

“Next time, I’ll definitely… with my own strength…”

As she lost consciousness, Perizit’s head slumped forward.

‘Her soul… it’s been destroyed.’

Albus immediately checked Perizit’s status window and realized what had gone wrong. 

Her soul, unable to withstand the divine power she wielded, had been shattered. 

Although her body had been fully restored to its optimal condition, the price of using power beyond her capacity had irreparably damaged her soul. 

Without a whole soul, she could not continue to exist.

Crack!

He should never have given her that power. 

It was an unfair act, unbecoming of the tournament’s host, and something Perizit herself would never have wanted. 

He had only intervened because he couldn’t bear to watch her get brutally beaten.

He had not considered how the power given in this game might affect the players in the real world. 

His actions, meant to help, had ended up poisoning her.

Bang!

Albus struck the arena wall with his fist.

‘This is entirely my fault.’

With his bleeding hand, Albus manipulated the command window. 

Hadn’t he vowed, after the ordeal with the first emperor, not to repeat such foolish mistakes? 

Hadn’t he sworn never to make the same mistake again? 

Yet here he was, thoughtlessly endangering the life of a friend.

Clench!

Albus tightened his fist, his hand trembling. 

He had intended to activate the rogue-like function of the seventh floor after the tournament, but…

Beep, beep!

Albus activated the prepared command window.

• Guide system for assistant AI activated.

Whirr

A hologram of the guide appeared next to Albus—the artificial intelligence receptionist that had handled the tournament entries, now serving as a new tool prepared to compensate for his shortcomings.

“Guide.”

• Yes, Master.

“Explain Perizit’s exact condition.”

• Her soul has been fractured from using power far beyond its capacity. 
• If left unchecked, her soul could completely disintegrate within a day.

“Is it possible to heal Perizit?”

• With your abilities, Master, it is certainly possible.

Albus designated Perizit as an object and opened her profile. 

Immediately, a vast array of magical code appeared, representing her being.

• Enhancing visibility.

The guide reconstructed the display to better suit Albus’s needs. 

Albus then erased the class that had been granted to Perizit, fully restoring her soul to its original state.

In his arms, Perizit’s soul slowly began to heal.

‘So warm…’

Perizit dreamt of Albus holding her and weeping. 

After confirming that Perizit was alright, Albus gently laid her down on a large sofa.

‘I acted like an omnipotent god just because they worshipped me as a GM. I didn’t think deeply about the consequences of my actions.’

Albus recalled a passage he had read in a previous life.

‘If God is omnipotent, why does He not destroy evil? If He lacks the power to destroy evil, can He still be called omnipotent? And if, despite being omnipotent, He chooses not to eradicate evil, can He be called good? If He is neither omnipotent nor good, then can such a being be called God at all? Even if God exists, countless lives perish, and He does nothing to stop their deaths. He merely watches, enjoying it. Does that not make Him a mere child who has gained power and now acts recklessly?’

‘Could I truly say I’m not just a child who’s been lucky enough to gain power?’

Flash!

A blue light enveloped Albus.